Point of View

A point of view statement (POV) articulates your venture’s point of differentiation. It details your specific user, his or her needs, and the unique insight that explains why the need is compelling. You will translate this POV into design criteria and use it as a basis for developing potential solutions.

If you have more than one critical stakeholder, you will develop a POV for each. For example, perhaps your user and payor/customer are two different people. In this case, having two different POV statements is helpful, as there are two different people you need to keep in mind while designing a solution.

SAMPLE TECHNIQUE

Point of View Statement

One helpful technique is to use the following structure to write your POV:

(user) needs (need) because (insights) .

Let’s look at d.light, a startup that manufactures solar lanterns to provide affordable lighting to people at the base of the pyramid. Their POV initially may have been:

Bottom-of-the-pyramid households in India (user) need light during evening hours because they want more time to work or study without the cost or side effects of kerosene.

< Use the navigation on the left to learn more about the process.